Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

"I think it's a terrible plan," Beau says defiantly after what seems like an eternity of awkward silence. Elijah had called a pack meeting the next day to discuss options and plans for out little werebear problem. He had relayed Felix's plan to the group and everyone had seemed to be mulling it over with some consideration. However, no one really expected the French exchange student to be first to speak. "We cannot just put a woman out there and hope he'd seduced."

"Why not?" asks Jordan, sitting up straight. As per usual, we are congregated in Jordan's expansive backyard. It's after school, and being spring time, the days have just started to get longer again so the sun hangs overhead like a fluorescent bulb. The curly haired boy looks mildly curious about the plan. If Jordan likes it and approves, it's probably the best plan. He's got the most common sense of us all.

"It is dangerous," he spits, accent very thick. "If the Alpha knew of our deception and went along with it, we'd have a dead girl on our hands. Not only that, but he could be more than ready to hunt us down afterwards, or during our attack on him, and have us surrounded."

"I agree," Carter pipes up from somewhere near the back, trying his best to avoid the rest of the wolves. I have taken notice that either he's uncomfortable being the only werefox in a pack of wolves, or that he's afraid or uncomfortable around all of the other boys. "He could certainly be ready for us. Or if he catches on early, he could easily come hunt us down while we're none the wiser."

"Not only that, but we only have four females in our pack. And we cannot afford to lose or abuse any pack members at this point. We're standing at a near thirty-five members- which probably can't even taken on eight or more werebears. We're at a disadvantage." Jordan sets his eyes narrow, now turned off the idea. I hate to go back on the plan Felix made, especially since I had thought it is a good plan, but Jordan makes an excellent point. We can't afford to make any mistakes and get any of us harmed or killed.

Elijah merely sighs, hanging his head in disappointment. "You're right," he closes his eyes and rubs his temples, "You're all right."

"I am sorry," Beau says and glances to his twin sister, Nicolette, "But I am protecting whom I care about." I smile at the two, seeing Nicolette brighten at her brother's words. It is such a sweet gesture, and I am glad it had been said. It really reinforces the concept of the pack being a family. You don't parade your sisters around for anyone to sleep with.

"No need for apologies, but we need a new idea. We're running out of time, and we need to be swift about it."

I mull this over and think hard. Payson had only given us three ideas, only two of which are usable. But, with no plan to emasculate him, and no way of knowing if he's made any alliances, both plans are out the window. Alliances... She said we could break them or prevent them... But how?

And suddenly it hits me, and I feel like an idiot. The answer should have been obvious all along. "We make alliances."

"What?" Mason says, the small werewolf who is more of a pest than a friend. Annoying as he is, however, he makes up for it in strong values, perseverance, and undeniable speed.

"Yeah, Elijah, you remember what Payson said about alliances? That they make them to outnumber and overpower the owners of the territory," I explain to the rest of the group, seeing as they hadn't gone with the pair. "We can do the same thing. Make alliances before they do. The fox pack in Bakerville is pretty big," I comment with a shudder. Memories of me visiting their Alpha flood my mind, and how he'd tried to kill me. Of course that had been our old pack's Alpha, Lewis's, crazy attempt to get me killed. Still, it had been a terrifying experience.

"That's not a bad plan. The foxes... We could probably talk to the coons as well. They're not a huge pack, maybe twenty or so, but we need the manpower, right? Oh, and the deer."

Felix, who had been sitting next to me the entire time, grabs my hand and squeezes it tight. The feelings of his affection for me radiates off of him and I just feel so welcomed and appreciated. At that point Elijah has finally taken the meeting over, looking a little less nervous and a lot more authoritative. Carter watches him from afar, a smile on his face.

"Babe," Felix whispers, head in the crook of my neck. I look down at him.

"Hmm?"

"That was a great idea," he says, pride in his eyes. I kiss him softly, letting Elijah carry on with the plan to the others. He'd tell me about it when it's finalized.

"And you're a great boyfriend."

He kisses me again. "Let's go back to your house. Can I stay for dinner?"

"You're always welcome there."



After dinner with my mother, Felix and I retreat my bedroom -door ajar, of course, to cure mom's paranoia- to work on a tad of schoolwork. We get our assignments done pretty early and resort to watching TV but nothing seems interesting. It was something that have noticed recently; being part of a pack gets me out of the house much more than I'm used to, and therefore, I miss a lot of the shows and become disinterested. Not only that, but when I catch a cool new fantasy, I get very bored or snobby. Since I've become a supposedly mythical creature myself, a lot of it just seems unreal and I have lost my taste for it. Like when I tried watch the Twilight movies after I was turned... I lost all respect for it.

I snuggle closer to the brown haired boy and he tightens his arm around me. He presses his lips to the top my head and I breathe out happily. "You know," I say slowly, just realizing something. "You never finished that story you were telling me?"

"What story?" He asks, his voice lined with tiredness. It's rough and a little raspy, but definitely sexy nonetheless.

"The story you were telling me the night of that party. About the Mother."

"Oh," he says. I can feel his smile against my hair. "It's more of our way belief system than a story. Trust me, pureblood two natured like me are big into this and we believe it whole heartedly. We grow up hearing this. We're told that since the Mother is greatest the sin, she is only seen in the Bible once and only mentioned afterward, but neither her beginning or her end was written."

"Wait, the Mother is actually in the Bible?" I ask, slightly astonished, sitting up just slightly. Such a pertinent figure of two natured culture has been in something I hear about nearly every day of my life? How have humans over looked this for so long? Felix nods and I rest my head back onto his chest.

"Let's just start from what I told you last time... Where did I leave off?"

"After the Mother had been transformed from animal to human, even though she kept shifting back and forth, God sent her to Eden to protect her."

"Oh," Felix chuckles slightly. "This is where it gets good. Well, being the first creature that God had created, he had expected it to be completely under his control. Like I told you last time, after she developed self control, free will, and conscious thought, God transformed her into a human. But, much to his disliking, she was still a free spirit and even rebelled against him by shapeshifting to and from animal form. However, he eventually put her in Eden to protect her from himself. He loved her too much- she was his first child, after all."

"So, she was the first human?"

"Yes, but keep listening," Felix says as his fingers weave a path through the length of my hair. I smile happily and keep my mouth shut. I close my eyes and allow my body to rise and fall with his chest. "God's first human was indeed the Mother, but he was unsatisfied. She was disobedient. She frequently went about the garden and did the opposite of what she was told. And through this all, God loved her, and thought it was a cry for attention. He created Adam after that, not only to perfect his first attempt at humans, but also to cure the Mother's loneliness."

"Did it work?"

"For awhile," he says sleepily. Felix yawns but continues anyway, "But she fell in love. Adam loved her, and she loved him. And how could they not fall in love? Being the only two things in creation is very limiting but it is a great bonding experience. Anyway, God intervened, but not intentionally. He knew that they were falling in love and that they were committing sins of the flesh. He knew that he could not have spawn of our Mother around. It would go against everything he had planned out. So, being sneaky and clever as God is, he took a rib from Adam and created an obedient woman that he knew could ween him away from the Mother."

"He didn't," I whisper in disbelief. Whether this legend is true, whether it's just made up to entertain children, I can't help but feel very interested. It's much better than anything I could have read, maybe because it shows the 'big guy' in a whole new light. Beside the story aspect of it, I love that the story is being told to me. It should have been my father, but Felix is just as good.

I close my eyes and snuggle him deeper, letting myself think for a moment that he is my father. That this is something he and I would do- the last thing would ever do. I fight back a slight onslaught of tears and listen to the rest of the story.

"Oh but he did. And our Mother is a jealous Mother, very much so. As soon as Eve entered the Garden, Adam seemed to forget all about the Mother. It was almost as if she had never existed. She knew this was God's work, and this angered her. Of course, at this time, she knew that she was carrying Adam's child and she had to get him back. She was not going to do it all alone."

Felix's fingers again started to weave through my hair and I wrap my arms around him even tighter than before. "So, she waited for her chance. And it was when God warned them not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that she hatched her plan. She would destroy Eve and win Adam back."

"She's the serpent. The one who tricked Eve, isn't she?" I can feel Felix grin.

"The same. She coaxed Eve into eating from the tree and expected her to be banished. She hadn't expected Adam to eat as well, and for the downfall of man to happen. And due to her simple trick, all of man kind would experience sin and guilt. After they were banished, not much is known about our Mother. It is said she roamed the garden for exactly fifty days and fifty nights before giving birth to her first child, the first two natured. From there, it is said she roamed the Earth and seduced humans just to spite God. She eventually had many more children, and they had children, and thousands of years later- here we are."

I slowly turn onto my stomach and crawl up closer to Felix's face. "Thank you for telling me the story."

"No problem. I hope you learned from it."

"I did." And it was true. All of this, real or made up, is a little life-altering if you ask me. My conception of religion is now being challenged from such a small story that I've only been told once. But, it was from the man I love, and it's a legend that all two natured know, so who am I to say it's not true? We came from somewhere, right? And if we're to look at it in a religious standpoint, all of it makes sense.

"What do you want to do now?"

"Sleep," I giggle. He starts to sit up but I simply push him back down and shake my head. He scoots over so we can share my bed.

"What?"

"Stay," I whisper and lay down, turning on my side to face him. I close my eyes, already to heavy to stay open. I yawn quietly and wriggle closer to his tanned body. "Just stay until I fall asleep, okay?"

I feel the bed move as he adjusts his body to face me. I feel a kiss on my forehead but I'm already fading so fast. The last thing I remember before passing out completely is him whispering, "Okay babe, I won't leave your side."